Foals ‘Holy Fire’ – Review

On ‘Total Life Forever’ a giant wave of reverb and ‘atmosphere’ soaked Foals’ music, leaving the sharp corners of their sound soft and well rounded. I never much liked the Math-pop style of their debut but it did lend songs like ‘Cassius’ and ‘Balloons’ a sharp urgency that was lost on the pretty but meandering second album. Luckily on new release ‘Holy Fire’ Foals have reinstated some of that urgency whilst retaining the warm atmospherics of ‘Total Life…’. It makes for an edgy but accessible record – and it may be their best yet.

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Perhaps unsurprisingly they’ve done this with the help of former U2 associate Flood, a man who has ruined as many albums as he’s helped with his stadium sized production values. Here though he does a fine job of elevating Foals sound. He happens to be the producer partly responsible for U2’s ‘The Joshua Tree’, an album that ‘Holy Fire’ feels fairly similar to. Like U2 at this time, Foals have taken their dark indie-pop groove and made it sound BIG. It’s a compliment to say that the band has done this without losing any of their credibility OR pop smarts in the process.

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In fact it’s their tuneful instinct that make songs like ‘My Number’ and ‘Bad Habit’ so irresistible. ‘My Number,’ a simple song built around the premise of a man addressing his former lover, is clearly the best thing Foals have recorded since ‘Cassius’. It’s got so many hooks that the band can afford to put the biggest one right at the start of the song. It repeats over the course of the four minutes with no alteration save for the playful dance of the instruments.

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The album doesn’t start quite as urgently. ‘Prelude ‘builds quietly and overstays its welcome but it does a fine job of preparing you for ‘Inhaler’ a song that plays on Foals fiddly reputation for at least one and a half minutes before dropping the most epic, un-foals-like riff imaginable right in the centre of the tune. From here on in things are far from predictable…

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The first 2/3rds of the record is engaging, poppy and deftly produced. It helps that lyrically this is their most direct work to date and Yannis is much improved as a vocalist. But despite a consistent start and a couple of awesome tunes, Foals have not made a classic album here. The final third is just as inconsistent as ‘Total Life Forever’ and ‘Antidotes’ and for all their brilliant pop instincts the band still insist on dragging songs out for too long.

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The group’s fidgety nature has always held them back, and although they’ve been very restrained for most of ‘Holy Fire’ some awkward riffs and disorienting rhythms still gets in the way on some of these songs. That said, Foals are a band that keep on reaching for the stars, and keep on getting better. ‘Holy Fires’ may be a bit of a slog towards the end but it still succeeds in many interesting areas.  If Foals carry on at this rate then the next album really could be the masterpiece they crave.

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7/10

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Foals ‘Total Life Forever’ – Review

‘Total Life forever’ is such a typical second album that in a future encyclopedia of rock under the heading ‘Second Album’ they will just have a picture of this. Foals have corrected the faults of their debut, ‘Antidotes’, and in the process they have made a record that is more consistent but less distinctive, more experimental but less radio friendly, less filler but fewer stand out moments – not any worse or any better, just different. If you want comparisons from recent years see ‘You Could Have It So Much Better’, ‘Sam’s Town’, ‘Empire’ or more recently ‘Contra’ and ‘Congratulations’.

The main criticism I had with their debut was the lack of emotion. Everything was so considered and dry, and whilst the lyrics were articulate and interesting they just didn’t connect with me. This is the first fault that they have corrected. Whilst the band are never going to be heart on the sleeve types, ‘Total Life Forever’ is a lot warmer and more inviting in both the sound and the lyrics. ‘Blue Blood’, the album’s opener is a good example of this as is first single ‘Spanish Sahara’. The lyrics are less ambiguous and more personal and this is also change for the better.

The second biggest criticism of the debut was that their complicated time signatures, rectangular riffs and spiky chants got in the way of just letting the listener have a good time. They are an Oxford band and this was definitely music for some intelligent university mathematician. This fault (if you saw it as one) has also been fixed, as ‘Miami’ shows with it’s bouncy rhythms and almost funky guitars. That they have loosened up with out loosing their unique charm is entirely to their credit.

The third criticism with the debut was that it didn’t flow very well. It’s highlights all came very early on, and I had lost patience after about track six. This is still a minor problem with ‘Total Life Forever’ but less so. This time they do save some of the highlights for the second half even if there is still a small unbalance in terms of quality.

Overall ‘Total Life Forever’ is a very solid second offering from the band. The front cover shows the band immersed in water – appropriate as the album takes a while to sink in. After a few listens the album really does sound fantastic though. There is no real highlight that you would mention above any other which is a sign that they have made a real album that unfolds over eleven tracks. At the same time there isn’t anything even approaching the genius of ‘Cassius’, ‘Balloons’ or ‘Mathletics’, although I would suggest that is the price we pay for the new, more consistent Foals.

7.5/10